Explore the prevalent technologies, trends, and practices in the exclusive interview series, ExtraMile by YourTechDiet. Here, we feature the top voices from the industry who are driving growth through strategic thinking and innovation.
For today’s conversation, we are glad to introduce Trevor Francis, the Founder and CEO of 46 Labs, a firm focused on reforming global business communication and connectivity methods. Prioritizing innovation, 46 Labs aims to combine complex communications infrastructures and eliminate connectivity barriers.
46 Labs’ Peeredge Orchestration Platform empowers Fortune 500 companies everyday with scalable voice and messaging management facilities. With several years of leadership and significant contribution to the telecom industry, our guest, Trevor is determined sustain efficiency and network innovation by orchestrating global connectivity.
Let us discover Trevor’s journey of founding 46 Labs alongside understanding the Peeredge Orchestration Platform appropriately and assessing the Network-as-a-Service model.
Welcome, Trevor! it’s a pleasure to have you with us today!
1. You are an expert with multiple years of experience in innovation and leadership. We would like to learn about the key highlights that shaped your career.
Ans. Throughout my career, I’ve been focused on solving the kind of deep infrastructure challenges that most people don’t see but businesses rely on daily. Prior to founding 46 Labs, I led initiatives to improve connectivity in underdeveloped regions across Central and South America and Africa. Those experiences shaped my understanding of the global communication gap and more importantly, the opportunity to close it. Over the years, I’ve built platforms that power some of the largest carriers and enterprises in the world, but I’ve never lost sight of the need to simplify, unify, and modernize how we connect.
2. What motivated you to build 46 labs? What are the key vision and goals of the company?
Ans. Legacy communication infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with the speed of modern business. 46 Labs was born out of the mission that enterprises need a single, scalable platform to orchestrate and monitor their global connectivity without being locked into one carrier or hardware vendor. Our vision is to democratize connectivity infrastructure by offering a truly carrier-neutral orchestration layer. The goal is simple: empower global enterprises with real-time visibility, control, and automation across their voice, messaging, and IoT networks.
3. 46 Labs has recently launched a 25,000-square-foot office space in Dallas. What are your expectations from this expansion?
Ans. Our new headquarters in Dallas’ West End District represents more than just square footage. It’s a strategic investment in people and possibilities. The space was designed to foster collaboration, house our growing team, and serve as a hub for innovation for groups and organizations across Dallas. As we continue to expand, Dallas positions us at the intersection of talent, enterprise partners, and infrastructure leaders. This will enable us to accelerate product development and better support our global customer base.
Give us an overview of your Peeredge Orchestration Platform. How does it boost global business communication? If you could share any relevant case studies, it would add more value to our understanding.
Peeredge is the foundation of everything we do. It’s an orchestration platform that centralizes management of complex, multi-vendor communication networks: voice, messaging, IoT, and more under one intuitive interface. We’ve built in native support for STIR/SHAKEN, global fraud prevention, machine learning-based routing, and near real-time analytics.
Over recent months, 46 Labs has been supporting the global extension of a pharmaceutical company, being their single global software solution. We’ve removed the need for multiple vendors and software, allowing this customer to expand their global communications with ease.
4. What challenges do businesses usually encounter while managing communication and connectivity across the globe?
Ans. The typical enterprise faces a patchwork of vendors, systems, and protocols that don’t speak the same language. This leads to high costs, security gaps, operational inefficiencies, and poor visibility. There’s also the challenge of scaling and adapting quickly to changes across different regions. Our mission is to eliminate this complexity by offering a platform that brings all of it together under one roof. Securely, intelligently, and in real time.
5. AI and ML are among the most impactful innovations to transform diverse industries. What possibilities do these technologies offer to the telecommunication spectrum?
Ans. AI and ML open the door to predictive, self-healing networks. At 46 Labs, we’re using these technologies to automate routing decisions, detect anomalies before they impact service, and proactively mitigate fraud. They also enable real-time decision-making at the edge, which is critical for industries like healthcare, logistics, and finance that depend on uninterrupted connectivity. As these technologies mature, we expect the communication layer to become even more dynamic, resilient, and personalized.
6. What are the key considerations for establishing a successful business? How do we plan, execute, and transform an idea into a fruitful venture?
Ans. It starts with solving a problem and solving it in a way that’s sustainable, scalable, and superior to the alternatives. From there, execution comes down to three things: clarity of vision, speed of iteration, and an unrelenting focus on customer value. You also need to hire people who are experts in their respective roles and give them the freedom to lead. For 46 Labs, that meant building behind the scenes before going to market with a solution we knew would transform the industry.
7. Based on your experience, how do you see the Network-as-a-Service model evolving? What security concerns can such frameworks encounter in the approaching years?
Ans. NaaS is becoming less about the underlying transport and more about orchestration, automation, and policy control. As the model matures, we’ll see enterprises demand more from their NaaS providers. More customization, more transparency, and tighter integrations with their security stack. With that comes new threats: the more programmable and distributed your network becomes, the larger your attack surface. That’s why we’re investing heavily in federated security controls, encrypted signaling, and AI-powered threat detection baked directly into Peeredge.
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